Spring mounted baby bottle holder



United States Patent [72] Inventor Herbert D. Tuttle Box 161D R.R.01,Cold Spring, New York 10516 [21] Appl. No. 710,083

[22] Filed March 4, 1968 [45] Patented Nov. 10, 1970 [54] SPRING MOUNTEDBABY BOTTLE HOLDER I Primary Examiner-Chancellor E. HarrisAttorneys-Keith Misegades and George R. Douglas, Jr.

ABSTRACT: The instant invention relates to baby bottle holders and moreparticularly comprises a spring mounted baby bottle holder which isadapted to be supported on the usual parallel, horizontal rails of ababys crib. The invention includes an adjustable horizontal support,straddling the crib rails, a central, vertical rod mounted through thehorizontal support and a bent wire baby bottle holder, mounted at thebase of the vertical support rod. The support rod is itself springmounted through the horizontal support, and the bent wire baby bottleholder is resiliently secured to the base of the vertical rod and isrotatable therearound so that the bottle may be placed in a variety ofpositions to suit the baby.

Patented Nov. 10, 1970 I 3,539,140-

INVENTOR.

The invention relates generally to baby bottle holders which, statedgenerically, are old in the art. The prior art devices include ahorizontal support secured to the side rails ofa baby crib and includesome sort of rigid, depending means for holding a baby bottle so thatthe infant may be fed without need of constant supervision by itsmother. The prior art devices suffer one distinct disadvantage. Once thebottle is set in a fairly specific location, it cannot be moved about.However, any young infant of tender age tends to be constantly on themove, whether in or out of a crib, unless said infant is asleep. If theinfant is particularly young, he will tend to move himself out ofposition from the bottle within a very few moments without being able toget back to the vicinity of the bottle. In the normal course of events,such a situation causes a tender infant much distress followed soonthereafter by rather audible complaining, followed immediatelythereafter by a frantic mother returning to the crib vicinity frequentlyto make sure the bottle is in its proper place so that the baby mayfeed. After only a few experiences like this, any sensible mother wouldbe understandably prompted to discard such a device and return to theold way of feeding the baby herself when she could be doing otherthings.

There are several prior U.S. patents in this field, U.S. Pat. No.2,738,152 issued to E. J. Blackmore, indicates a baby bottle supporthaving a transverse support resting on the rails of a crib and anelongated. adjustable support having a variety of wing nuts and suchlike devices thereon for placing the bottle in the vicinity ofthe baby'shead. Obviously, if the baby moves more than a fraction of an inch orso, this elongated support will have to be reset to the new position,or, alternatively, the baby will have to be returned to his formerposition. U.S. Pat. No. 2,944,779 issued to G. Silagyi disclosed alimited improvement in the art, in that the transverse horizontalsupport is slidably, rotatably retained on the crib rails so that thebaby bottle supported thereby may rotate about an axis transverse to thelength of the crib. This permits the bottle to be moved slightly in avertical plane through the length of the crib, but should the infantturn his head to one side or the other, as infants are wont to do, theproblems discussed at length hereinbefore will ensue.

Three dimensional movement of the baby bottle in a sup port mounted ona'crib was accomplished in U.S. Pat. No. 3,l20.368 issued to C. D,Crisp. FIGS. 8 through 11 thereof indicate a resilient belt stretchedfrom crib rail to crib rail with the baby bottle being located centrallythereof. As long as the baby retains a tight grip on the baby bottleand/or the nipple of the bottle he will be happily fed. However, shouldhe release his tender grip on the bottle, it will bound away from himresulting in the distress explained above. Additionally, should the babysquirm away from the side of the crib on which the nipple of the bottleis located, effective access to the bottle is prohibited,

The instant invention overcomes these prior art disadvantages byproviding a crib rail supported baby bottle holder which permits thebottle to be rotated 360 in a horizontal plane and additionally permitsthe bottle to be moved vertically and laterally by reason of itsresilient support thereby giving the baby access to the bottle no matterwhat conceivable position he may work himself into during the time ittakes him to feed himself.

SUMMARY The gist of the invention is to provide a crib rail supportedbaby bottle holder including a resiliently mounted vertical rod supportand a bent wire baby bottle holder resiliently mounted with respect tothe rod and rotatable thereabout through an arc of 360 thereby providinga variety of locations for a babys bottle for feeding the infant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Details of construction of theinvention will become readily apparent by reference to the followingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of the invention mounted on a crib anddepicting the operation thereof;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary viewof one end of the transverse horizontalsupport of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of the central portion of FIG. 2, butshowing an alternative construction thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawingsby reference character, there is shown an infant happily feeding on theusual baby bottle 12 having the obvious nipple thereon (not shown). Thecrib 14 includes side rails 16 and I8 which support the invention 20.Invention 20 includes horizontal transverse support 22, vertical rodsupport 24 and a bent wire bottle holder 26.

Transverse supports 22 includes a pair of linearly adjustable L-supports28, each slotted at 35. L-supports 28, 30 are attached to centralsupport 32 by means of nut and wing bolt assemblies 34, 34. TheL-supports are slotted at 35 and may be adjustable outwardly or inwardlydependent upon the distance between rails I6 and 18 by loosening, andthen tightening wing nut and bolt assemblies 34, 34. Transverse support22 may be firmly retained on the crib rail 16, 18 by means of a pair ofresilient ties 36, 36 tied to the outer, base ends of I,- supports 28,30 and two rails I6, 18 respectively. Central support 32 is providedwith a series of bores 38, for selective reception of vertical rod 24.

As shown in FIG. 2, the diameter of each bore 38 is somewhat larger thanthe diameter of vertical rod 24 in order to permit some lateral movementof rod 24 with respect to support 22.

Rod 24 is resiliently supported in central support 32 by means of a coilspring 40 seated on a washer 42 and retained thereagainst by means of awing nut 44 threadably received on the upper end of rod 24. A radialflange 46 on rod 24 beneath central support 32 defines the upperwardlimit of movement of rod 24. Wing nut 44 may be loosened or tightened onrod 24 to secure rod 24 loosely or tightly with respect to centralsupport 32, as desired. Alternatively, coil spring 40 may be mountedbeneath central support 32 as would retaining washer 42 so that wingnut' 44 would define the limit of downward movement of rod 24 (notshown).

An alternative construction is shown in FIG. 4, where flange 46 may bein the form of a wing nut and washer assembly 46a, rod 24 being threadedthroughout its length, so that the upperward limit of movement of rod 24may be varied.

Bottle holder 26 is seated on a second radial flange 48 at the bottom ofrod 24 and is mounted for resilient upper movement by means of a secondcoil spring 50 and wing nut 52 threadably received on the base of rod24.

Thus, vertical rod 24 may be moved upwardly and downwardly withincentral support 32 and somewhat laterally with respect thereto by reasonof the relatively larger diameter,

bore 38 and may also be rotated therein in that there is no rigidconnection between rod 24 and support 32. In the same fashion, bottleholder 26 may be rotated about rod 24 and may be moved vertically withrespect thereto in that it is not-rigidly secured to rod 24.

Most babies, even at a tender age, have a tendency to grasp the bottleas they are feeding as indicated by FIG. 1. As the baby moves aboutwhile it is feeding, the bottle holder 26 will move with the babythereby allowing him to feed without interruption and withoutdistressing his mother.

It is apparent from the foregoing that I have invented a new and highlyuseful invention in the art of baby bottle holders,

1. A crib rail supported baby bottle holder for supporting a baby bottlein a variety of attitudes comprising:

a. a transverse support, seatable on the side rail of a crib;

b. a vertical rod slidably secured through the transverse support andhaving a resilient coil spring for connection therewith; and

c. a bottle support slidably secured at the base of said vertical rodand having spring means mounted thereabove urging said bottle supportdownwardly with respect to the rod, said bottle holder being rotatableabout said rod.

2. The baby bottle holder as recited in claim 1 wherein: said horizontalsupport comprises an intermediate central support having means thereindefining a plurality of bores for selectively receiving the vertical rodand having a pair of linearly extensible leg supports. one to eachdistal end of said central support for seating said horizontal supporton said crib railsv 3. The baby bottle holder as recited in claim 2wherein: said horizontal support includes a pair of flexible tie meansfor securing each said extensible leg to its crib rail.

4. The baby bottle holder as recited in claim 1 wherein the upperportion of said vertical rod includes:

a. a flange, beneath said horizontal support for defining the upperlimit of movement of said vertical rod; and

b. a wing nut threadably received on the upper end of said verticalsupport, said coil spring located between said wing nut and horizontalsupport for vertical adjustment of said vertical rod with respect to thehorizontal support.

5. The baby bottle holder as recited in claim 1 wherein the upperportion of said vertical rod includes:

a. a wing nut, threadably received on the upper end of the vertical rodfor selectively defining the downward limit of movement of the rod; and

b. a second wing nut, threadably received on the rod beneath saidhorizontal support, said coil spring located between said second wingnut and said horizontal support.

6. The baby bottle holder as recited in claim 1 wherein: said springmeans comprises a second coil spring about said rod above the bottlesupport, and a wing nut threadably received on the rod above the secondcoil spring for vertical resilient adjustment of the bottle support.

